I need a MtM relationship, but one Form could hold just a single field. So instead, I could use a pick list with multiple selections. But what would be the difference between these 2 methods?
I understand the difference in the underlying structure, but in practical terms, what does that mean?
• How are multiple selections from a pick list stored? Just as a series of comma separated ‘words’ in a TEXT field?
• Can this be subsequently edited?
• In what order are they stored?
• How can you search on the values contained?
With regard to that last point, if the pick list actually contains a list of years and several are selected for each record, could you:-
• search for records that contain a matching year?
• What about greater or less than a certain value.
• Could you find all between certain years?
• Find the maximum and minimum years for a selection of records chosen by a different criteria?
Hi Ken,
Yes, Pick List values are just stored within a regular Text field as a comma delimited set of values. You could edit the values for sure. They’re stored in the order that you selected them in. You can search just like any other search term.
You could search for records that have a specific value within them, so yes, you can search for records that have a certain year value within them. You can do some searches using greater than and less than for character data, but it’s an alphabetic search primarily. If you really want to be able to do range searches then you’ll need to just use a Number field and then create a Saved Search with two search rules. One for the greater than condition and one for the less than condition, both targeting the same field.
There’s no function for searching for the maximum or minimum values. Although you can display the maximum or minimum values at the bottom of the records list view by setting the Calculation Type on a field.
Thanks,
Brendan
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